Alberto Contador again marked his return to his best when he did an excellent time trial in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco to seal a comfortable overall win in the race. The Tinkoff-Saxo captain regards the result as an important confidence boost ahead of the Tour de France.

In every aspect of the saying, it was the moment of truth for Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador when he rocketed off the starting ramp launching the final stage of Vuelta Pais Vasco – an individual time trial over 25.6 kilometers. A gap of only 12 seconds was the head start for Contador against Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and on a lumpy course that suited them both very well, the race was completely open until the very end.
 
The big favorite to win the stage was undoubtedly the German TT World Champion, Tony Martin (Omega-Pharma Quick Step) and he lived up to his reputation as an extreme powerhouse and won a superb stage win.
 
However, Michael Kwiatkowski (Omega-Pharma Quick) delivered a heartfelt effort and finished second on the line, only 15 seconds behind his teammate and was now threatening Contador’s overall lead. But the Tinkoff-Saxo Spaniard fought heroically on the course to defend the lead thundering through the course with sensational power and pushed Kwiatkowsky down the podium to third spot as Contador finished second.

"It's an honor," he said. "When I won the time trial in 2005 it was a dream. I could never imagine that I would take the win three times.I am very happy. I could not imagine that I would go so well in the Basque Country because I felt quite tired and I am very grateful to my teammates.

"Everything went very well. It was a tough day and it was not easy. When I got the first split time, I realized that I was doing well. It has given me confidence and I have kept the pace. Then we even tried to win the stage, but when you fight against a great champion in the discipline like Tony Martin, it is almost like a win to finish 2nd.

"These results give me confidence to keep working hard towards my major goals, the Dauphiné and the Tour. I face them with great motivation. Now I'm going to take the break that I need and then come back to work with a focus on the Tour.

"I wanted to make a complete season and not just focus on the Tour de France. Everything went well  and now it is time to rest and wait for the second part of the year continues. The feelings are very good, both in training and in the races. I am also leader of the world rankings."
 
“Alberto is simply super strong at the moment," sports director Philippe Mauduit said. "He rode elegantly, regularly and with enormous power in the pedals.

"We knew that he was the best climber here and today he demonstrated that he’s one of the very best time trialists as well finishing only 7 seconds behind the world champion. For Alberto this is another boost of confidence which he needed before going home training to prepare for the Tour de France."
 
Contador’s next race will be Criterium Dauphine Libéré in start June.